Those of us running complex programs and projects are continually using influence and power in a variety of ways to “get the work done”.  That is one of the reasons we discuss power and influence in many of our SAPM courses and have an entire course on Managing Without Authority (MWA).  The Playmaker’s Standard provides a different take on mapping those factors one needs to influence that can have wide range of application in large programs that cover multiple business units and silos.  They provide visual tools for mapping your influence strategy. Their table of influence strategies includes three broad categories of assess, condition, and engage with useful graphics for visual thinking about influence strategies.  Examples of influence strategies include several for Boeing-Airbus for different time periods.

Application – use Playmaker’s influence strategies to address complex stakeholder management issues in a way that all can see who is impacting whom

Application – share the stakeholder map with ALL parties, including those you want and need to influence.  This openness will enhance the sense of trust and agreement among all parties.  Otherwise, a sense of manipulation may inadvertently be created.

Managing stakeholders – all those that are affected by or can impact a global complex project- is critical for success. At our SAPM (Stanford Advanced Project Management) Managing Global Initiatives (MGI) course, held at Stanford March 25-27, Dr. Witold Henisz of Wharton shared some excellent resources for addressing and managing stakeholder relationships.

SAS2 (Social Analysis Systems) - Using SAS², people learn how to bring problem-solving and dialogue into their communities and workplaces by mobilizing people and rich knowledge from diverse sources. It helps people inquire into situations that do not lend themselves to easy solutions designed by experts alone, thereby elevating the process of knowledge creation to the power of two: making it both socially relevant¹ and doing it socially.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provides for a super service for the global community by offering a free download of: A Guide to Collaborative Inquiry and Social Engagement.

The Stakeholder Engagement Manual Offered by AccountAbility, a global not-for-profit promoting accountability innovations for sustainable development.

From Words to Action: The Stakeholder Engagement Manual is comprised of 2 main documents: Volume 1 The Guide to Practitioners’ Perspectives on Stakeholder Engagement and Volume 2 The Practitioners’ Handbook on Stakeholder Engagement. Together they provide guidance to especially corporate, but also non-corporate users on how to practice effective stakeholder engagement. Volume 2 contains tools and templates for managing engagement. A toolkit of templates for practical use is also available for download.